Extra's a waste of time?

Guest

Anyone else agree? At first, they were pretty interesting. Now, I hardly ever bother. I bought Gladiator on its day of release and still have not even loaded the second disc.

To be honest, as long as the film is correctly letterboxed, has a good picture transfer and sound mix, I couldn't care less about making of.. things and talent files. Deleted scenes are the only things I sometimes watch, but even then only once.

Well-known Member

I agree, if I thought that video and sound had been affected in anyway in order to fit the extras I would be quite upset. I think that extras are of more value with older titles because of historical context. Jaws for example, the director has done a bit since then.

[This message has been edited by Jeff (edited 12-02-2001).]

The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of AV Forums, not necessarily mine, and probably not necessary.

Standard Member

I don't seem to watch the extras much although there have been some exceptions .On 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid',there are interviews with Paul Newman/Robert Redford/Katherine Ross.They were incredibly interesting and never made me want to skip to the film.I have just ordered the ultimate toy story box set so i guess there will be something on there as well.

Active Member

A personal thing I guess, but I don't buy a DVD for the extras but for the movie.
If there would be a cheaper 'movie-only' version (same picture/sound quality) I would go for that.
Though sometimes interesting I actually don't really bother nor am I much interested in the extras while others perhaps are.

Then again if the DVD comes with lot's of extras I don't mind, just don't charge me for things I don't really want.

Well-known Member

The majority of extras are pretty useless I agree. They tend to be very shallow. Most of them seem to consist of little more than the pre-release hype material and a poorly transfered trailer.

The exception to this is probably the director's commentary but again this can vary in quality: John Carpenter and Kurt Russell commenting on The Thing is probably the most interesting/ amusing one out there ( you can hear them sparking up cigarettes and sucking down beer!)

Paul Verhoeven on Starship Troopers is great also but mainly because he comes off as being a short-tempered nutter albeit with a good sense of humour!

Guest

I agree with Mr. D about commentaries. For me they really add to the number and frequency of "repeat viewings". My wife hates them, tho.

My fave commentary is the Criterion Armageddon disc. Actually there's two: a director and stars commentary plus a technical one by a couple of space experts explaining how it couldn't all happen, and how they came up with workarounds and so on.

I just can't wait to hear the commentary on the new release of The Rock!

Well-known Member

I think anyone who bought a disc predominently for the extras would be a bit of a knucklehead, as it's the film that keeps bringing you back to the disc over and over again. I like to have extras wherever possible, for example on my favourite films such as Alien or Blade Runner (roll on that 2 disc set later in the year), but if it meant you could pick up a high quality extraless disc for a reasonable price (under £10) then I'd support that. I love decent commentaries though, and can listen to them over and over again, and are often much better than any featurette could ever be.

I think if feature packed sets retailed at no more than £19.99 (on the high street)and extraless ones were £9.99 everyone would be happy. Just as long as the picture/sound quality was beyond reproach. On the whole though, I'm in favour of extras, as long as they're worthwhile.

Active Member

I buy the disc for the transfer and sound,with a bias on uncut directors editions-and the only extras i am really interested are deleted scenes.
What is annoying is this move towards putting the extras on a second disc and charging more for the disc(a la r2 braveheart)...i mean are they extras if we`re paying for them?
All to often,the extras are nothing more than fillers anyway..

Guest

never had the second disc of gladiator in yet either, i like extras such as alt. ending and deleted scenes, also music videos, but documentaris get a bit boring as do commentaries, have never watch one of them through

------------------
Assumption is the mother of all errors

member formerly known as hank hill, then Jesus H
but got bored so it became some latin sh*t

Well-known Member

Seems to be universal agreement on the subject of extras. I think that with some films it is interesting to watch a few of them, but you will not go back again to them too often. The only ones that I tend to watch are the deleted scenes/different endings. Tend to have no interest listening to actors or SFX men talking about their feelings or how they did that stunt. The idea of a 'film only' disc is great. But it will not happen. I think that there are a lot of people of there who love having the ultimate version of a disc with as many extras as possible, even if they find them interesting or not. I have questioned these type of people before on this site and was slated. They put the technology and the sound quality before actual quality of film. Sad.

Guest

Oh, I'm definitely an extras man. If there are two versions out, I'll go with the extras.

Of course, it's the movie I watch the most, but I have enjoyed many commentaries, which come after deleted/alternate scenes in the order of priority on extras. Featurettes seem usually to be a waste of time.

Guest

The only thing I dislike about extras is that there is no choice for the consumer.E.g. extras 2 discs means more expensive package even if you just prefer the film for picture and sound.Extras could be a shrewd marketing ploy to get people to pay more for their disc purchases.Me,I am happy with brilliant pictures and sound...